Fang Fang

The purpose of the project is to support local and national decision-making in pandemic control and prevention with tangible evidence and convenient tools. We aim to evaluate and compare the health and socioeconomic cost and effectiveness of various anti-pandemic strategies in Europe, with a focus on Sweden, and examine an artificial intelligence-powered decision-making framework. The project will be implemented at Örebro University, a rising AI research center in Sweden, in close collaboration with Umeå University, Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Iceland. The project consists of three interrelated, progressively deeper studies that will be conducted between 2023 and 2025. Study 1 is a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of anti-COVID-19 strategies in Europe. Study 2 will build and test an AI-powered 4-dimension dynamic decision-making process to promote anti-pandemic strategies. Study 3 is a microsimulation study that will use individual-level data from Swedish national registries to simulate the progress and consequences of COVID-19 and a hypothetical pandemic in Sweden. Our research aims to strengthen the country’s anti-pandemic systems for detecting pandemic outbreaks, assessing crises, ensuring health regulations, upgrading healthcare service delivery systems, ensuring innovative infection control and global research collaboration, and therefore, proactively and successfully preparing for the next pandemic and minimizing health and socioeconomic losses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented influence on the global economy and population health. While the scientific community has alerted for adverse mental health impact of COVID-19, there are a lack of high-quality studies focusing on the entire spectrum of mental health (self-reported symptoms, clinical diagnosis, and suicidal behavior), with longitudinal data collection and cross-country comparison. The proposed project will take advantage of a prospective cohort study “Omtanke2020” (28,000 participants) – specifically designed to investigate the mental health impact of COVID-19 in Sweden, the COVIDMENT consortium (400,000 participants) – a research collaboration on COVID-19 and mental health across six European countries, and a Swedish-Danish joint project on bereavement (7 million individuals and their parents) to study the mental health impact of COVID-19 among two high-risk groups (i.e., patients directly affected with COVID-19 and their families) and the general population, both during the pandemic and in its aftermath. Specifically, we aim to estimate risk of mental illness (self-reported and clinically diagnosed) and suicidal behavior among:patients with COVID-19, compared to individuals without COVID-19, by disease severity.families of COVID-19 patients, compared to families of individuals without COVID-19, by whether the proband patient died from COVID-19.general population, by changes in working and life conditions inflicted by COVID-19. As the disease burden and mitigating strategies to the pandemic vary considerably between countries, we will contrast Swedish data with data from Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Estonia and Scotland to examine whether such variations impacted the burden of mental illness and suicidal behavior, during the pandemic and in the long run. This research program aims to offer novel insights into the multifaceted mental health consequences of the current COVID-19 pandemic – a knowledgebase of vital global significance.

The purpose of this project is to increase our understanding of the etiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The project aims to: 1) investigate whether inflammatory gastrointestinal conditions, conditions related to perturbed gut microbiota, and gastrointestinal surgery are associated with PD risk, 2) investigate whether healthy dietary patterns, for example mediterranean and anti-inflammatory patterns, and antibiotics are associated with PD risk, 3) using network Mendelian randomization, test whether the gut microbiota composition is associated with PD risk or age at onset. Over four years, we will use cutting-edge conventional, genetic, and molecular epidemiological designs that aid causal inference, including Mendelian randomization and within-family studies. Resources will combine samples from the entire Swedish population (using the patient register), the unique database ESPRESSO with histopathological reports from gastrointestinal biopsies, the SIMPLER cohort with large numbers of DNA and fecal samples, as well as very large PD case control datasets with genetic information that were assembled in international genetic consortia.This research shifts the focus from identifying risk and protection factors associated with PD to establishing those likely to cause the disease, a step that will further understanding of disease etiology and pathogenesis. This will potentially lead to novel therapies, preventive strategies, and more individualized treatment of PD patients.

Many people are sometimes investigated during life for suspicion of cancer, either via screening or due to symptoms. Previous studies show that over-diagnosis and over-treatment of cancer can lead to unnecessary health risks, but so far, research has been very limited on what health risks the cancer investigation itself can bring about. It is increasingly established that the health, especially the mental, is affected in people who undergo cancer investigation. However, concrete risks for mental and physical health outcomes have not been studied in this context. Our goal is to investigate the risk of mental illness, acute cardiovascular conditions, external damage (self-injury or accidents) and iatrogenic damage (complications due to medical procedures and medications) during the time of the cancer investigation. Furthermore, we will examine how individual factors or tumor characteristics affect different health risks associated with the cancer investigation. Finally, we will examine whether the immediate health risks also pose a risk factor for the long-term health outcome of cancer patients. The results of this study will add new knowledge about the consequences a cancer investigation can have for the mental and physical health and what influence these investigations have for public health. The study will be able to give an increased understanding of the underlying causal factors, which can facilitate the selection of preventive measures and the optimal time for such efforts in the future. Increased insight into this area can, in summary, open up new opportunities for reduced individual suffering and more effective cancer care.

Many people are sometimes investigated during life for suspicion of cancer, either via screening or due to symptoms. Previous studies show that over-diagnosis and over-treatment of cancer can lead to unnecessary health risks, but so far, research has been very limited on what health risks the cancer investigation itself can bring about. It is increasingly established that the health, especially the mental, is affected in people who undergo cancer investigation. However, concrete risks for mental and physical health outcomes have not been studied in this context. Our goal is to investigate the risk of mental illness, acute cardiovascular conditions, external damage (self-injury or accidents) and iatrogenic damage (complications due to medical procedures and medications) during the time of the cancer investigation. Furthermore, we will examine how individual factors or tumor characteristics affect different health risks associated with the cancer investigation. Finally, we will examine whether the immediate health risks also pose a risk factor for the long-term health outcome of cancer patients. The results of this study will add new knowledge about the consequences a cancer investigation can have for the mental and physical health and what influence these investigations have for public health. The study will be able to give an increased understanding of the underlying causal factors, which can facilitate the selection of preventive measures and the optimal time for such efforts in the future. Increased insight into this area can, in summary, open up new opportunities for reduced individual suffering and more effective cancer care.

The number of cancer survivors is increasing dramatically, and their long-term health therefore begins to be considered an important public health issue. Among other things, there is mental ill-health, which can have great significance for the quality of life and, in the long run, also for survival. New knowledge of the psychiatric disease burden among cancer survivors, and increased understanding of the underlying causal factors can contribute both to the development of preventive measures and to improved care. In addition to reduced individual suffering, such improvements would result in more efficient use of the healthcare resources. Our overall goal is to systematically investigate the incidence of psychiatric disease such as depression, anxiety, acute stress reactions, post-traumatic stress disorder and abuse among cancer patients in Sweden. We will primarily map the presence of these conditions in direct connection with the cancer diagnosis and its treatment. Furthermore, we will study how sleep disorders and waiting time during the cancer investigation affect the risk of psychiatric disease states, and to what extent these in turn affect the consumption of cancer care. The project will give a picture of the psychiatric disease burden among cancer patients in Sweden and generate new knowledge about acute psychiatric complications of cancer diagnoses and treatments. The studies will be able to provide an increased understanding of the underlying causal factors, which can facilitate the selection of preventive measures and the optimum time for such efforts in the future. Increased insight into this area can, in summary, open up new opportunities for reduced individual suffering and more effective cancer care.

The number of cancer survivors is increasing dramatically, and their long-term health therefore begins to be considered an important public health issue. Among other things, there is mental ill-health, which can have great significance for the quality of life and, in the long run, also for survival. New knowledge of the psychiatric disease burden among cancer survivors, and increased understanding of the underlying causal factors can contribute both to the development of preventive measures and to improved care. In addition to reduced individual suffering, such improvements would result in more efficient use of the healthcare resources. Our overall goal is to systematically investigate the incidence of psychiatric disease such as depression, anxiety, acute stress reactions, post-traumatic stress disorder and abuse among cancer patients in Sweden. We will primarily map the presence of these conditions in direct connection with the cancer diagnosis and its treatment. Furthermore, we will study how sleep disorders and waiting time during the cancer investigation affect the risk of psychiatric disease states, and to what extent these in turn affect the consumption of cancer care. The project will give a picture of the psychiatric disease burden among cancer patients in Sweden and generate new knowledge about acute psychiatric complications of cancer diagnoses and treatments. The studies will be able to provide an increased understanding of the underlying causal factors, which can facilitate the selection of preventive measures and the optimum time for such efforts in the future. Increased insight into this area can, in summary, open up new opportunities for reduced individual suffering and more effective cancer care.

The number of cancer survivors is increasing dramatically, and their long-term health therefore begins to be considered an important public health issue. Among other things, there is mental ill-health, which can have great significance for the quality of life and, in the long run, also for survival. New knowledge of the psychiatric disease burden among cancer survivors, and increased understanding of the underlying causal factors can contribute both to the development of preventive measures and to improved care. In addition to reduced individual suffering, such improvements would result in more efficient use of the healthcare resources. Our overall goal is to systematically investigate the incidence of psychiatric disease such as depression, anxiety, acute stress reactions, post-traumatic stress disorder and abuse among cancer patients in Sweden. We will primarily map the presence of these conditions in direct connection with the cancer diagnosis and its treatment. Furthermore, we will study how sleep disorders and waiting time during the cancer investigation affect the risk of psychiatric disease states, and to what extent these in turn affect the consumption of cancer care. The project will give a picture of the psychiatric disease burden among cancer patients in Sweden and generate new knowledge about acute psychiatric complications of cancer diagnoses and treatments. The studies will be able to provide an increased understanding of the underlying causal factors, which can facilitate the selection of preventive measures and the optimum time for such efforts in the future. Increased insight into this area can, in summary, open up new opportunities for reduced individual suffering and more effective cancer care.